Great info, Greg! We just got back from Concordia eco-tents on 11/29, a 'sister property' of the Maho group (www.maho.org). I might add these tidbits about Concordia as well, going along the same topics as you should viewers want to make a quick comparison:

1. The Concordia campground of eleven (11) tents is built on the side of a hill overlooking Salt Pond Bay and Drunk Bay. It was about 90 stairs for us to get to the registration desk. To get to our ecotent (#3) from the parking (you park along the left side of the dirt road against the hillside - there is no specific parking lot), it was 30 stairs plus a few steps along the elevated walkways. Since our bathroom was just outside the tent, it was only about 5 steps from our tent door (each tent has its own bathroom, and not a community bathroom). From the parking/road, there are three sets of stairs descending down the hill: the first is to registration/pool//tents 6-11/Estate Concordia Studios. The second set of stairs goes to tents 3-5. The third set of stairs goes to tents 1-2. Past the third set of stairs is a turn-around at the dead-end, along with a bench for looking at the East end. If you plan to go to the beach, it is best to drive five minutes to Salt Pond Bay. We understand it is a challenging 30-minute hike to the beach going on foot from Concordia.

2. the camp is very clean. It is your part to help keep it that way!!

3. transportation on the island is never a problem if you are staying on the north shore, but a rental vehicle is definitely needed if you are staying at Concordia (located about a quarter-mile off of Salt Pond Bay road via a dirt/rocky road). Taxis rarely go past Coral Bay.

4. there is no restaurant at Concordia - only some basic non-perishable supplies and a 'help yourself shelf' located next to the pool in the registration area. The closest restaurant is Miss Lucy's, then Shipwreck Landing (yummy!). After those, you find several restaurants in Coral Bay - about a ten-minute drive from Concordia. Also located in Coral Bay is Dominos gas station (cheapest gas on the island) and a grocery store (Love Shack). Pickle's also had sandwiches... and supplied our Thanksgiving dinner that we ate under a tamarind tree. (Hint: we brought an extra suitcase full of goodies - bottled water, small boxed cereals, granola bars, spaghetti, etc - and we feel this saved us a lot of money. A family of five that we met in the cab from the airport was staying at Concordia for two weeks, and really brought lots of food! This was their fifth trip to Concordia... all the way from Canada.)

5. if you want Yoga, you may drive the twenty minutes to Maho - the Maho weekly schedule is kept posted in the registration area of Concordia. However, there is a massage therapist located in Coral Bay who will do massages at Concordia on certain days of the week. Her brochure was found in the registration area.

6. bring mosquito repellent (the higher percentage of DEET, the better). We were there five nights, and only used it one time when going hiking in the afternoon around Salt Pond and Drunk Bay areas. We also brought along a prescription already filled of Diprolene AF 0.05% cream just in case the noseeums became intimate with us.

7. bring shoes for hiking, even if you don't intend to hike. However, there is lots of great hiking all over St John!

8. The staff are GRRRReat! Jay and Nathena just started at Concordia about a week ago, and Kalon's last day was 11/30. Any question we had was answered promptly, and if Jay and Nathena didn't know, they found out for us! (They just moved to St John two weeks ago to escape the rat race and live their dream!!)

9. Vitran (public bus) runs past Concordia on the main road, and that is just about the only public transportation you see.

10. if you are afraid of swimming with large fish, avoid the water. If you are afraid of swimming with Hawksbill turtles, avoid Salt Pond Bay.

11. the showers are cold water, particularly in the morning. However, a shower in the afternoon is perfect - rather warm and soothing! (Thanks to the drums on top of the shower that heat the water). The view right outside our bathroom door was breathtaking! Wait... every view from our tent was breathtaking!

12. If you have a pulmonary or cardiac history you might want to consider cinnamon bay campground instead of maho bay. But... I will add that Concordia is an excellent choice!! We visited Cinnamon Bay and Maho while in St John, and from our personal perspective, would choose to return to Concordia for its seclusion, fewer steps, private bathrooms, excellent tradewinds, incredible views, freshwater pool, etc.

Overall: We absolutely loved Concordia. We slept with the shades rolled up to feel the constant tradewinds breeze. The sound of the waves crashing below at Drunk Bay rocked us to sleep and welcomed us each morning. Watching sunrise and sunset each night was incredible, as was trying to count the zillions of stars. We would also enjoy watching cruise ships pass by in the night, all lit up in the distance. If you looked hard enough, you could see the faint glow of St Croix about 35-40 miles away (which we visited in December 2001). We both loved our experience at Concordia, and plan to return. (Is next week too soon?? Ooops - I have students at school I must teach...)

If you have any questions about Concordia, feel free to email me. 🙂

-Mandy in Dallas